Catching up with: Nick White, cancer survivor

Nick White ran up Mt Fuji to raise money for the Gillies McIndoe Institute. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Mt Fuji just one more challenge.

When half of Nick White's tongue was removed because of cancer, he was worried he would never talk again. He never dreamed that five years later, he would be in demand for public speaking.

The 39-year-old survived the surgery to treat aggressive head and neck cancer by having half his tongue cut out and rebuilt using muscle from his forearm.

But he lost his voice and ability to speak.

Just as he was learning to talk again, he had radiation treatment near the end of 2009 and had to start over, setting himself the ambitious goal of being able to MC his brother's wedding four months later at a standard that he would not find embarrassing.

Five years later, as a way to give something back to the surgeon who "saved his life", Mr White decided to raise money by running up Mt Fuji in Japan in sweltering conditions. He could consume only hospital fare - a liquid drink called fortisip - because of the higher risk after his surgery of choking on food.

In July, the Trade Me performance manager made the summit in 4 hours 40 minutes and raised $6000, almost double his goal. The money went to the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute in Wellington, set up last year by Mr White's surgeon Dr Swee Tan as a charitable trust dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.

When he returned home, Mr White gave a speech about his experience with cancer and the Mt Fuji run and raised a further $2000.

In the past year, he has spoken to about a dozen community groups including a school, sports club and the Fire Service and in return each has donated to the institute.

Mr White said there were times after the surgery and radiation when he thought her would never speak again.

"Even now as I get tired, in the late afternoons I start to deteriorate a bit. Back when I had half my tongue cut out, I lost my speech for a couple of weeks and had speech therapy to learn my articulation of words. I started out sounding a lot like Sid the sloth from Ice Age. It was very slurred."

He was going to spend the summer break planning his next fundraising effort.

"It was really hard work going up Mt Fuji - really hard work - but it was a really unique and amazing experience for me. Personally, it was a real challenge to run, and ultimately rewarding."